Okay, so today I tackled a project I’ve been putting off – assembling some keel dancing plywood for my new wooden flooring. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, but it definitely took some doing. Let me walk you through what I did.

Prepping the Area

First things first, I cleared out the room completely. Furniture, rugs, everything. You need a totally empty space to work with this stuff. Then, I gave the subfloor a good sweep and checked for any loose nails or screws. Leveled it as best as I could – didn’t want any bumps under my new floor!

Laying Down the Plywood

Next, I started laying down the plywood sheets. The “keel dancing” part refers to the way the plywood is designed to interlock, kind of like a puzzle. I made sure to stagger the joints, like you would with bricks. This makes the whole thing way stronger.

I used a nail gun, but a Good old hammer, to secure the plywood to the * Sure nails are spaced out evenly – I did mine about every 6 inches along the edges and every 8 inches in the middle. You want this thing to be solid.

Cutting and Fitting

Of course, I hit some tricky spots around the doorways and corners. For this, I used a jigsaw. I measured everything twice (or three times, let’s be honest) and then made my cuts. Slow and steady wins the race here – you don’t want to mess up a sheet of plywood.

The Interlocking Part

The “dancing” part comes in where the plywood edges meet. They have these little grooves that fit together. I used a rubber mallet to gently tap them into place. You don’t want to force it, or you could damage the edges. Just a nice, firm tap to get them snug.

Finishing Touches

Once all the plywood was down, I went around and double-checked for any loose spots. Added a few extra nails where needed. Then, I gave the whole thing another good sweep to get rid of any sawdust or debris.

The Result

And that’s it! It took a good chunk of the day, but now I have a solid, level base for my new wooden flooring. It’s not the prettiest thing on its own, but it’s the foundation for something great. Next step: laying down the actual floorboards! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.